Australia is a major powerhouse when it comes to horse racing and there are almost 400 racecourses in total dotted around the country. These racecourses fall into three distinct categories - Metropolitan, Provincial or Country racetracks.
Metropolitan racecourses are the home of the big Group races and are premier venues with the best facilities. Provincial racecourses are usually located in the suburbs and many of them host Provincial Cup races which also include Group and Listed contests.
Country races, apart from certain Country Cup meetings, are not usually covered by off course bookmakers and are pretty local affairs for local people.
The racecourses in the states of Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia are raced on in an anti-clockwise direction, while Queensland and New South Wales tracks in the main race clockwise.
How Is Horse Racing Governed In Australia?
The Australian Racing Board oversees all the racing operations in the country with each state having its own body called the Principle Racing Authority.
Australia is split up into the following eight racing authorities: Canberra Racing Club, Racing New South Wales, Racing Queensland, Racing Victoria Limited, Racing and Wagering Western Australia, Tasmanian Thoroughbred Racing Council, Thoroughbred Racing Northern Territory, Thoroughbred Racing South Australia.
What are Australia’s Top Races?
The Melbourne Cup is undoubtedly Australia’s most famous race, not only at home, but globally too. It is held every year on the first Tuesday in November at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.
“The race that stops the nation” is a partial holiday in Australia and there is a party atmosphere all over the country.
The race has had a keen European following ever since Vintage Crop went over there and won the race in 1993, and now several UK and Ireland raiders make the long journey every year.
The Victoria Derby is also held at Flemington. It is the feature race for young staying types each spring and is the opening Group 1 feature of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, following on from the Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in late October.
The most recognised Group 1 races in Australia each year are the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and the Cox Plate in Melbourne, and the Golden Slipper in Sydney.
The Caulfield Cup is run on a Melbourne track, this time at Caulfield Racecourse. The race has been going now since 1879 and is always hotly contested.
Only horses aged 3 years and over are eligible, and if a horse wins both the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup, they complete what the Australian’s term the “Cups Double”, a feat that was last completed by Ethereal in 2001.
The Cox Plate is the richest weight for age race in Australia and a trophy that every trainer, jockey and horse owner wants to win.
The race takes place in late October at Moonee Valley Racecourse which renowned for its tight bends and its ability to sort the wheat from the chaff.
Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney is the annual location for the Golden Slipper Stakes, a 2-y-o juvenile race which takes place in April and is a part of the Golden Slipper Carnival.
It is Australia’s fourth richest race on the calendar, and the world’s richest race for two-year-old thoroughbreds.
How Do Australia's Group Races Work?
Group 1 races are held in all the major states of Australia and at the principal metropolitan tracks in each capital city. The majority of them take place at Melbourne and Sydney’s major racing carnivals each autumn and spring.
Although they do not hold as many Group 1 features, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide all host major carnivals throughout the season.
Away from the major state carnivals, Queensland holds the Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival while Hobart and Launceston come alive each year with the Tasmania Summer Racing Carnival.
Group races are divided into four categories in Australia:
- Group 1 - at least $350,000 prize money - 60+ races per season.
- Group 2 - at least $175,000 prize money - 80+ races per season.
- Group 3 - at least $115,000 prize money - 110+ races per season.
- Listed (Group 4) - at least $80,000 prize money - 280+ races per season.
Australia’s Top Racecourses
Flemington
Australia’s largest track plays host to 14 Group 1 races each year and attracts champion racehorses across all distances.
Flemington has been the setting for record-breaking stopwatch times by many legendary horses including Black Caviar and Makybe Diva, which remain track records to this day.
Surprisingly Flemington is the only track in Australia that offers straight racing. The 1200m straight has become increasingly popular due to the prominence globally of Australia’s sprinting crop.
Moonee Valley
“The Valley” is home to four Group 1 races including the W.S. Cox Plate, Manikato Stakes, A.J. Moir Stakes and the William Reid Stakes.
The track is well known for being a very tight-turning one which can be difficult for punters to accurately pick out the winners.
Top jockeys at the course say the best place to be is just off the speed because the horses in front are tiring and the ones in behind have to pull out wide.
Caulfield
Group 1 racing is the order of the day at Caulfield Racecourse, with 12 events scheduled every season.
Four of these races take place during the Autumn Racing Carnival in February, while the other eight are held between August-October as part of the Spring Racing Carnival.
The Caulfield Cup is the crown jewel of their racing year and with a tidy prize purse of $3 million, it’s easy to see why all Australian owners and trainer eye this contest.
Rosehill
Rosehill Gardens is home to nine Group 1 races, including the world’s richest race for two-year-olds – the Golden Slipper. It is a race steeped in history that attracts Australia’s finest juveniles each March.
The Golden Slipper Stakes was inaugurated in 1957 and is the premier horse race for two-year-old Thoroughbreds. Prize money comes in at a cool $3.5 million, which makes it one of the most lucrative races for two-year-old horses anywhere in the world.
Punters who bet on horse racing consider Rosehill one of the fairest tracks around in Australia with every runner having a chance of some sort in the home straight.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Andy Brownbill / AP Photo*
